Mumbai: The Reserve Bank has relaxed norms governing import of rough, cut and polished diamonds by doubling the credit time period to 180 days.

"... It has been decided, in consultation with the government, that the Clean Credit i. e. Credit given by a foreign supplier to its Indian customer/ buyer, without any Letter of Credit (Suppliers' Credit)/Letter of Undertaking (Buyers' Credit)/Fixed Deposits from any Indian financial institution for import of rough, cut and polished diamonds, may be permitted for a period not exceeding 180 days from the date of shipment," RBI said in a notification.

Mumbai: ICICI Bank will look at acquiring a bank if it finds one with the right size and right valuation, but is yet to find a takeover target that fits in its evaluation model, the bank chief Chanda Kochhar said.

ICICI Bank, which added 650 branches to its network in the last fiscal ended March 31, 2014, is as such adding business equivalent to the size of one bank in its ordinary course of business and any acquisition target would need to be of a relevant size, Kochhar said.

New Delhi/Zurich: As India steps up pressure on Swiss authorities in its pursuit of alleged black money, banks in Switzerland say they follow strict rules and the requests from Indian authorities must be "properly justified".

The Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland, an over four-decade old grouping, is also of the view that a clear and transparent policy can help in dispelling "apprehensions" and the "conjectures" should not be allowed to dominate the public opinion.

To bring back illicit money stashed away overseas, India has recently made a fresh request to Switzerland to seek bank details of such entities.

London, July 1 : France's largest bank BPS Paribas has reportedly agreed to a record 9billion dollars settlement with US prosecutors over sanctions violations.

The settlement is said to be the largest for such a case in US history.

According to the BBC, the US Attorney General said the bank was involved in a complex and pervasive scheme to illegally move billions through the US financial system which was a deliberate attempt at violating the longstanding US sanctions.

France has been condemning the size of the fine, which almost equals BNP's entire pre-tax income of about 8.2billion euros of 2013. (ANI)

Vadodara: The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Monday said it plans to open branches in Australia, South Africa and Mauritius.

The city-headquartered bank has received the regulatory clearances to open the branches and will also upgrade its representative office in China, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar said on the sidelines of its 20th annual general meeting here.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said the overall asset quality of banks has improved in the recent past with a reduction in bad loans, although systemic risks have increased.

"Banking sector risks have increased since December 2013, as shown by the Banking Stability Indicator.

"Though there was a marginal improvement in asset quality, concerns remain about the liquidity and profitability aspects. Stress tests indicate higher vulnerability for public sector banks as compared to their private sector counterparts," the RBI said in its ninth Financial Stability Report released this evening.

Zurich/New Delhi: It is just two big banks -- UBS and Credit Suisse -- which appear to be accounting for almost two-third of the total money held by Indians in Swiss banking system, known for their famed secrecy walls.

According to the latest official data disclosed by Switzerland's central banking authority SNB (Swiss National Bank), Indians' money in Swiss banks rose by 43 per cent last year to 2.03 billion Swiss francs (nearly Rs
14,000 crore), despite growing global pressure on Switzerland to share client details of their banks.

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday said shifting the regulation of bond trading from the central bank would have an adverse impact on the government bond market.

"My personal view is that moving the regulation of bond trading at this time would severely hamper the development of the government bond market, including the process of making bonds more liquid across the spectrum, a process which the RBI is engaged in," Rajan said at State Bank of India's Banking and Economic Conclave.

He was talking about reforms suggested by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC).

New Delhi: The Centre today expressed concern over the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh with BJP slamming the Akhilesh Yadav government there for the present state of affairs even as Congress demanded strict action against trouble-makers and miscreants.

"This should not be taken as some politics being done by us because their government is of a different party.

"Whatever the government -- whether of our party or of some other party, everybody is worried if the law and order situation is not good.

Kolkata: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would soon come out with policy guidelines for differentiated banking licenses which would be given on tap, deputy governor of the apex bank R Gandhi said.

Besides, he criticised banks for not extending financial assistance to the micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) and asked lenders to consider the working dynamics of this sector while extending credit.

"The RBI will soon come out with policy guidelines in differentiated banking licenses within a short period of time", Gandhi told reporters on the sidelines of ICC Banking Summit here today.

Kolkata: The West Bengal government will provide space to banks in order to set up new branches in Gram Panchayat offices in villages, with the view to promote financial inclusion.

"The government would give space in the offices of Gram Panchayat so that banks could set up brick-and-mortar branches in the rural areas which will promote financial inclusion," state Finance Minister Amit Mitra told reporters on the sidelines of ICC Banking Summit here today.

He said that banks would be offered typically spaces of around 400 square feet.

Kolkata: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would soon come out with policy guidelines for differentiated banking licenses which would be given on tap, deputy governor of the apex bank R Gandhi said.

Besides, he criticised banks for not extending financial assistance to the micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) and asked lenders to consider the working dynamics of this sector while extending credit.

Mumbai: State Bank of India has partnered with payments service provider, Ezetap Mobile Solutions, to deploy mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solution.

SBI plans to deploy 5,00,000 point-of-sale terminals within the next five years, it said in a release. "Mobile POS has the power to transform payments and commerce. It can be deployed easily and at low cost in every corner of the country," SBI's deputy managing director S K Mishra said.

The SBI-Ezetap platform would allow the bank to provide value-added services for merchants and consumers from a single, secure POS device and application, he added.

Varanasi: State-run Union Bank of India (UBI) has said it expects the total business to grow by around 12 per cent in the current fiscal over the Rs 5.32 lakh crore turnover achieved in FY 2013-14.

The bank's rising bad assets or NPAs (non-performing assets) is a major concern, UBI Chairman and Managing Director Arun Tiwari told reporters here yesterday, adding that with an improvement in the Indian economy, the NPAs may come down.

Mumbai: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) on Thursday said that it has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank to open two new branches.

The new branches will come up Gurgaon, NCR, and outer Bangalore, the bank said in a statement.

The in-principle approval is for 12 months and the bank will finalise its plans within that time and seek final approval then and decided on the branch openings, ANZ India spokesperson said when sought the opening date.

The Hague: Leading Dutch bank ING announced on Thursday it was offering a minority public stake in its NN Group insurance business, in the final stage of restructuring imposed after a government bail-out following the 2008 banking crisis.

"ING today confirms the intention to proceed with (an) initial public offering and listing on (the) Euronext Amsterdam of NN Group," ING said in a statement. "The intended IPO will consist solely of a secondary offering of a minority holding of NN Group's ... Shares held by ING," the Amsterdam-based bank said.